UPSIDE sues Florida over ban on cell-cultured meat

Florida is simply too big a market, and it sets too many precedents among jurisdictions for cell-based meat producers to let the ban on their product go unchallenged. So to no one’s surprise, Upside Foods has sued Florida officials in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee.

UPSIDE Foods Inc. is a corporation incorporated under the laws of Delaware and located in Berkeley, CA. It is represented by the non-profit law firm Institute for Justice (IJ).

In a 31-page complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, IJ challenges on constitutional grounds Florida’s newly enacted law banning the production, distribution and sale of cultured meat.

IJ argues that Florida’s ban violates provisions of the Constitution that prohibit protectionist measures designed to benefit domestic companies at the expense of out-of-state competitors. By targeting cultured meat produced outside Florida, the law seeks to protect local meat producers from competition, undermining the principles of a national common market.

IJ’s complaint states: “Simply put, consumers and restaurateurs like UPSIDE’s product because it tastes like chicken, which is not surprising since it is made from chicken cells.”

Founded in 1991, IJ, through its National Food Freedom Initiative, is active in defending the rights of individuals to buy, sell, grow and advertise a wide variety of foods without unnecessary government interference.

“If some Floridians don’t like the idea of ​​eating farmed chicken, there is a simple solution: don’t eat it,” said Paul Shermana senior lawyer at the Institute for Justice. “The government has no right to tell consumers who want to taste cultured meat that this is not allowed. This law is not about safety; it is about stifling innovation and protecting entrenched interests at the expense of consumer choice.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1084 on May 1, banning the production, sale or distribution of cultured meat in Florida. It came into effect on July 1. In a statement announcing the lawsuit, the IJ complaint says Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson made his protectionist motivations clear, saying, “We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture. . . . Together we will keep Florida’s agriculture industry strong and thriving.” Governor DeSantis said cultured meat was “designed to pose a threat to agriculture as we know it. . . . [W]We’ll put this out at the beginning.’

The complaint explains how the banned products are made. “To produce cultured meat, the manufacturer acquires and stores animal cells and then places these cells in a vessel known as a cultivator. In the cultivator, the cells are provided with the same types of nutrients that they would receive in the body of an animal. This allows the cells to grow into meat. Once cultured, these cells can be harvested and formulated into products that mimic the sensory and flavor profile of conventional meat.”

This innovative process allows UPSIDE Foods to produce meat without raising and slaughtering animals, providing a cruelty-free alternative that retains the taste and texture of conventional meat, IJ said. UPSIDE chicken is cooked and prepared in the same way as conventional chicken.

The court document notes that UPSIDE’s chicken has been given the green light by both the FDA and the USDA, “confirming its safety and quality. And because it is grown in a controlled environment, the process can potentially reduce the risk of foodborne illness, contamination and other problems in modern livestock farming.”

“Anyone who wants to try cultured meat should have the opportunity to do so,” says Uma Valeti, founder of UPSIDE Foods. “Our mission is to provide a delicious, safe and ethical alternative to conventional meat, and we believe Floridians deserve the freedom to make their own food choices. Cultured meat represents a significant advance in food technology with the potential to improve supply chain resilience, and we are committed to making it available to everyone.”

“For the same reason that California cannot ban orange juice made from Florida-grown oranges, Florida cannot ban UPSIDE meat,” IJ attorney Suranjan Sen explained. “A major purpose of adopting the Constitution was to prevent precisely this type of economic protectionism so that all Americans can benefit from a free and open national market. Florida cannot ban products that can be legally sold in the rest of the country to protect businesses in the state from fair competition.”

Upside Foods grows meat, poultry and seafood directly from real animal cells. In 2015 it was the first cultured meat company in the world. It achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including approval for the sale of cultured meat in the United States in June 2023 and the completion of the first consumer sales of cultured meat in the US.

The court will have to decide whether SB 1084 is unconstitutional or not.

The IJ complaint argues that SB 1084 violates the Supremacy Clause because it is expressly disregarded by federal laws regulating meat and poultry products. SB 1084 also violates the dormant aspect of the Commerce Clause, as it was enacted to protect Florida agricultural businesses from innovative out-of-state competition such as UPSIDE.

(Click here to sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News.)